1. Field of the Invention
The apparatus of the present invention relates to food containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a food tray which is positionable on the upper torso of a person, and includes a bib portion, so that a handicapped person may be given meals on the tray that is secured on his torso without having to sit at a table.
2. General Background
In the care of the elderly, infirmed, or partial invalids, one problem that is particularly difficult to address is the problem of the person feeding himself or herself from a plate seated at a table. For example, if a person is unable to walk or move easily, it is quite difficult for a person to move from a chair or a position where the person may spend a great deal of time to a chair at a table or the like in order to eat meals. Additionally, for such people who are unable to move at all, or because of the lack of control that they may have in their limbs, they are unable to eat from a plate or the like while seated at a table. There is known in the art a type of a tray which serves as a plate also, because it is divided into component chambers for placing of certain items of food within each chamber. Such a tray, however, is the type that would be placed on the surface of a table so that a person may eat from the tray. This type of tray is often used in hospitals or school cafeterias.
However, there still presents the problem of the persons who are unable to sit at the table, yet requires that their food be placed in a type of a tray or plate which does have a partitioned off portion for the various components of food that they may choose to eat, without the person having to be seated at a table. Likewise, because often times a person, for example, with Parkinson's disease, is unable to have a steady hand as they move the food from their plate or tray to their mouth, food often falls from the eating utensil onto their upper torso or their lap, which is undesirable.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a tray or plate which is partitioned to receive various components of food and/or drink on the tray, and would include a bib like portion for compensating for any food that may fall from a utensil down on the front of the person to be trapped by the bib and fall into the plate or tray. Likewise, it would be beneficial in the art to have this combination of tray and bib secured onto the front of the person so that the person does not have to move from what would normally be their seating to a table in order to eat. In a search done of the art, various patents were obtained as a result of the search, these patents are included in the prior art statement that is submitted with this application.